Teens Who Left Trouble Behind Get Recognition and a Reminder

The first time Jerome Boone visited the Youth Services Center in the District, he couldn't wait to leave. Fighting had often gotten him suspended from school, but now it had gotten him locked up.

His six-hour stay this fall was long enough for him to know that jail wasn't for him.

"I never thought about going to jail," said Boone, 17, a senior at Ballou Senior High School. "When I was getting into trouble, I was worried about my mother finding out."

Last night, Boone was back at the juvenile detention facility in Northeast Washington, but for a different reason. He was given an award for helping the teenagers in his neighborhood, Parkland, settle their differences with rivals in Congress Park. He has friends there now. They hang out and chase girls together.

This was the second year for the awards ceremony, corresponding with the start of Kwanzaa and sponsored by Peaceoholics, a youth empowerment group. It brought together teens and young adults who have been in trouble or were heading toward it. Many have been perpetrators, peddling drugs or beating people up. Many also have been crime victims.

Ronald Moten, a founder of Peaceoholics, said that teens too often make headlines for the wrong things: shootings, beatings, robberies and poor grades.

"We've got to make sure they get noticed for doing right," Moten said, noting that the event is held at the juvenile facility for a reason. "We want the children to know that if they don't continue to do the right thing, they could end up here. It keeps them conscious."

In the District and elsewhere, penalties have been stiffened since the 1980s for youths who commit crimes. And prosecutors and judges are pushing to snatch the most violent cases from the city's Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, which some consider too lenient. Since Vincent Schiraldi, a national reformer, became director three years ago, he has pushed for less incarceration and more use of alternatives.

The Youth Services Center, on Mount Olivet Road, houses about 80 people awaiting trial. Peaceoholics honored dozens of youths, and the guests included Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who now has authority over the city's schools. He said that the best way to stay out of trouble is to get a good education.

"If you study hard in school, there's nothing that can hold you back," Fenty told the group.

Among those trying to stay on the straight and narrow is Wesley West, 17, who lives in Congress Park. His neighborhood had a longstanding beef with Boone's in Parkland. He recalled several fights in which he was involved.

One of the largest happened on the second day of classes at Ballou in August. A group of youths had called him names on the first day of school and early on the second. In the school's cafeteria, a brawl involving dozens of people almost became a riot, West said.

He was in the middle of the fight and was suspended from Ballou for 45 days. He served the time at an alternative school.

After several counseling sessions with his rivals, West now considers them friends. "Both of us got put out of school for fighting," West said, sharing a laugh with Boone. "The fights are over money, girls and respect."

Carlos Santos, 19, said that making a difference is all about getting people to sit down and talk to one another. Early in his teens, he got into plenty of trouble at school and on the streets. He fought, cursed at teachers and played dangerous pranks. Once, he poured baby oil and water in the hallway at Roosevelt Senior High, causing classmates and teachers to fall. He was suspended.

Now a senior, he says he wants no part of trouble. Working with Peaceoholics, he helps others solve their differences without fighting.